This week? Has not been a very good week, for me personally, or for most of the United States. I call for a do-over for the week, without sickness or hardship, or tragedy.
The Clackamas Town Center shooting hits close to home, I work a mile from there. I actually worked in the mall in high school, as a temporary employee at Nordstrom’s. Growing up, I worked at the Dairy Queen that’s in the same block.
And I had considered going to the mall that day. I wanted to get a couple Christmas presents, but I discarded the idea pretty quickly. I decided it would be better to wait until after payday. I’m glad I waited, because I would have been in the center of the mall, where it all went down, if I had gone.
You think it will never happen where you live. I never thought somewhere I would go could be a target. Others cities, yes, but not the sleepy areas I frequent. And I don’t think my thoughts are alone, I imagine most people feel this way. This hit way too close to home.
I didn’t hear about today’s shooting in Sandy Hook until late, late in the day. In fact, I’d posted a tweet about the blog post that went up yesterday, before I even opened Facebook and saw people talking about it. That prompted me to check the news.
I don’t have words. I just don’t. The sheer horror and sadness that I feel can’t be put in words. My feelings can’t be.
I’m not a parent, so I can’t begin to imagine how the parents of those children feel. I can’t begin to imagine how parents everywhere feel.
But I still feel terrible. I feel for all the people affected, who have a loved one, child or otherwise, who’s not coming home now. Whether that’s from Clackamas, or Connecticut, that’s heartbreaking. I feel for all the people, adult and child, who were around both of these terrible events. I can’t begin to imagine how they feel. I can’t begin to imagine how they’re getting through their days.
All I can do is add my sorrow to everyone else’s, and my thoughts to the other thoughts and prayers going out to people tonight.